


April Fools

by missing_fawkes



Category: Supernatural
Genre: April Fools' Day, Castiel and Dean Winchester Use Their Words, Could Be Canon, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Miscommunication, Sam Winchester Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sam is done with Dean and Cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23599588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missing_fawkes/pseuds/missing_fawkes
Summary: "You wanna know what happened, Sam?," Dean grits out and he feels a wave of anger rolling over him."Cas said 'I love you' just like you told him to, but unfortunately for the both of you, your perfect plan didn't work, 'cause I didn't get the joke.Do you have any idea how much this hurts? I believed him, Sammy. My brain didn't even register that this was some stupid prank or an easy letdown or whatever the hell you two intended it to be and I spilled my guts to him. I told him everything and for two short minutes I was happy. So if you figured I needed a reminder that I am not fucking good enough for Cas, then congratulations. Message received."The silence between them is heavy and Sam doesn't say anything for so long that Dean worries he's hung up on him."He told you today?," Sam asks and he doesn't sound triumphant or apologetic or amused like Dean expected him to. He sounds done like he does when Dean gets on his nerves or when Cas acts even stranger than usual and Dean doesn't know what to make of that."After almost a decade Cas finally decided to talk about his feelings for you and out of all the days he could have picked, he chose April Fools' Day?"
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 6
Kudos: 230
Collections: Destiel Instagram One Shot Contest - April 2020





	April Fools

For a short, glorious moment Dean's world is perfect.

"I love you," Cas says and his smile is blinding and infectious and Dean can feel his own face light up as he takes a step forward to embrace his best friend.

He is lightheaded and excited, unable to believe that this is happening.

That he would ever get this lucky.

Cas loves him and he is telling Dean with a confidence he can't help but admire.

He has been wanting to say these words to Cas for a long time, but he was never brave enough to do so.

Until now.

"I love you, too," he says and if possible Cas smiles even wider.

It's the smile that made Dean realize he loved him almost a decade ago.

The one where his laugh lines deepen and his gums are showing and his nose scrunches up.

With the fear of rejection evaporating, Dean finds himself spilling all the things he had to hold in for so long.

"This," he gestures between them, "is everything I ever wanted. I have loved you for forever, but I never thought it possible that you could love me, too."

His arms wind around Cas' neck and he presses their foreheads together and closes his eyes.

"I can't believe I get to have this," he whispers, "I can't believe you feel the same way."

_Because he doesn't._ A tiny voice in his head whispers. _Look at the date._

Dean's eyes fly open and he stumbles back, out of Cas' reach, the happiness washed away by waves of hurt and betrayal.

It is April Fools' Day.

Of course it is.

This is one big joke and he fell for it like the lovesick idiot he is.

Cas looks genuinely confused at his reaction and a bitter laugh escapes Dean's lips before he can stop it. It sounds hollow even in his own ears. His best friend is a much better actor than Dean gave him credit for and it makes him question every single moment they have spent together.

"Could've fooled me," he says and his voice sounds flat, "No really, Cas, good one. I totally believed you for a second."

He can't bring himself to look at Cas, does not want to see his pitying smile, so he trains his eyes on the floor and speaks to Cas' feet instead. He feels sick.

Maybe this was supposed to be an easy let down.

Maybe Cas thought confessing his love to Dean on April Fools' Day would make him realize how ridiculous an idea it was to entertain the thought of them being together.

Maybe Cas thought if he made a joke out of it, Dean wouldn't take the rejection too harshly.

He probably thought he'd say the words, Dean would stare at him for a second, then call him out on it and then Cas would tell him that he found out about Dean's feelings, but unfortunately (and to no one's surprise) did not feel the same way, even though he very much valued Dean as a friend.

He probably did not expect Dean to launch into a love confession of his own.

But how did he even know?

If he had really spent eleven years in blissful obliviousness, what changed?

"Did Sam set you up to do this?," Dean asks, finally meeting Cas' eyes. He does not want to believe his little brother could be so cruel, but to his horror Cas nods, even though his expression is now guarded as well.

"I told Sam about my plan and that I was not sure how you'd react and that I was afraid you would get angry. I am aware of your temper so I consulted your brother, since he knows you best. He told me to "go for it" and so I did. Of course I now see that I should have tried a different approach."

Cas looks crestfallen and Dean feels awful.

If he ever wanted proof that he's a horrible person, now he has it.

When Cas figured out that Dean was in love with him, his first instinct was talking to Sam, since Dean obviously cannot be trusted to act like an adult.

Cas was scared to outright reject him, because he thought Dean would throw a tantrum like a toddler who hears the word "No" for the first time.

He runs his hands through his hair, before he buries his face in them.

"I am sorry," he says and he means it, "I am sorry I made you feel like you could not talk openly to me. I am sorry for being unpredictable and I am sorry for being mad at you all these times, when you didn't deserve it."

He drops his hands and looks at Cas again to make sure his friend knows he means every word of his apology.

"But this is just cruel, man. I know … I hope it wasn't your intention to turn this into some sort of payback and I am sure in Sammy's giant brain this was the right thing to do, but this hurts. Okay? This fucking hurts, because it's fine if you don't want to be with me, but telling me you do only to take this away from me …," his voice trembles and he feels pathetic.

"Dean," Cas says and he sounds hurt which breaks Dean's heart all over again. 

Damn it. This is not about his feelings. This is about him apparently being such an asshole that his best friend believes him incapable of having in depth conversations without blowing up. He takes a deep breath, trying to keep his emotions at bay that are already on the way of becoming a raging thunderstorm in his mind. He forces another smile onto his face.

"I'm sorry," he repeats, "this is not about me and we are going to talk about this like adults, because even though I don't do it as often as I should, I can act like one. But please, Cas, don't make me do it right now. I just … I need a moment, okay?"

Digging the heels of his palm into his eyes, he lets out another sigh.

"God, I am so stupid, " he lets his hands drop to his sides again, shooting a crooked grin in Cas' direction whose expression has become unreadable,

"Bet you forgot about that when you and Sam came up with your genius plan. Because I do love you. Even if I can't show it, much less talk about it and I guess I really wanted to believe you. Whatever, I'll be fine."

He awkwardly waves Cas off before he can say anything. The last thing he wants is for Cas to feel like he has to apologize for the way he feels. Or rather does not feel.

"I'll go for a drive, blow off some steam." _Punch a wall or two._ "And we'll talk when I get back."

Squaring his shoulders he exits the room and carefully blocks out his feelings until he is behind the wheel and on the open road.

To his surprise, he does not feel any of the explosive anger Castiel and Sam were afraid of. All he feels his shame and humiliation.

Because of course Cas does not feel the same way.

How could he after everything Dean has done to him?

After everything Cas has done _for_ Dean without ever receiving so much as a simple "thank you".

His hands tighten around the steering wheel and he's going way faster than the speed limit would allow, but he doesn't care.

Why does he always have to fuck things up?

His face burns at the thought of having to face Cas again after what just happened, but at least it's all out in the open now.

He won't have to think about how much time has passed between touches, won't have to ask for how long he can allow himself to linger in Cas' arms when they hug.

He almost feels relieved until it occurs to him that Cas might not want to hug him at all, now that he knows how Dean feels about him and the thought has him feeling miserable all over again. This is exactly what he has been afraid of all this time, why he never said anything: The possibility of losing what they had.

At least they can move on now.

Dean knows he's fooling himself. There's no getting over Cas.

His phone rings and for a moment he considers ignoring the call until he sees it's Sam, because if there is one person he can talk to about this mess, it is his pain in the ass, too smart for his own good little brother.

"What's up, Sammy?," he asks, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"You know what's up. Cut the crap and tell me what happened."

"What happened?," Dean chuckles humorlessly, "You know what happened, it was your idea after all."

"My idea? What are you even talking about?," Sam sounds so confused, Dean almost believes him.

"Listen, Dean, just tell me what's going on. Cas called and he seemed really upset, but I couldn't make any sense of what he was saying, so I promised to talk to you."

"You wanna know what happened, Sam?," Dean grits out and he feels a wave of anger rolling over him.

"Cas said 'I love you' just like you told him to, but unfortunately for the both of you, your perfect plan didn't work, 'cause I didn't get the joke.

Do you have any idea how much this hurts? I believed him, Sammy. My brain didn't even register that this was some stupid prank or an easy letdown or whatever the hell you two intended it to be and I spilled my guts to him. I told him everything and for two short minutes I was happy. So if you figured I needed a reminder that I am not fucking good enough for Cas, then congratulations. Message received."

The silence between them is heavy and Sam doesn't say anything for so long that Dean worries he's hung up on him.

"He told you today?," Sam asks and he doesn't sound triumphant or apologetic or amused like Dean expected him to. He sounds done like he does when Dean gets on his nerves or when Cas acts even stranger than usual and Dean doesn't know what to make of that.

"After almost a decade Cas finally decided to talk about his feelings for you and out of all the days he could have picked, he chose April Fools' Day?"

Sam is laughing now, but he doesn't sound amused.

He sounds like he's barely holding onto his sanity and Dean's no longer angry, he's worried.

"Sam? You okay?," he asks cautiously.

"Get your ass back here, you two got some talking to do," Sam says, his voice leaving no room for argument.

"On April Fools' Day," is the last thing Dean can he hear him mutter, before he hangs up.

"You two are idiots," is the first thing Sam says to him, before he pushes him onto the couch next two Cas.

"Dean, Cas loves you. Cas, Dean loves you. Now talk."

He throws an epic bitch face in their direction and rushes off.

Dean shifts uncomfortably, not meeting Cas' eyes.

"Dean?," Cas asks softly and Dean knows he's watching him.

"Sam informed me about the custom to play practical jokes on one another on 1 April. Even though I now know that this is a quite common tradition, I assure you that I was unaware of it. Please, Dean, I didn't know."

Cas reaches out a hand, hovering above Dean's shoulder before he lets it drop into his lap again like he is uncertain if Dean will allow his touch.

"It was never my intention to hurt you. I understand that you are going to need time to forgive me, however, I wanted you to know that I meant every word of what I said this morning.

I love you, Dean and I'd be honored to be romantically involved with you."

A chuckle escapes Dean, before he can stop it and he finally looks up from his hands.

Cas meets his eyes with the same striking openness he always does and Dean feels a rush of affection for his dorky best friend who speaks like a textbook and takes everything too seriously, but is honest and kind and understands him in a way no one else does.

"I love you too, you idiot," he says with a smile, grabbing Cas by the collar of his dress shirt.

"But you already know that."


End file.
